i love seeing snakes in my garden. they eat mice and bugs that chew on my plants.
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In years past, I dumped on Shiro for its sometimes “off” flavor, but last year, I had a batch of Shiros which were absolutely delicious. It surprised me how good they were. I shared some with @zendog when I visited with him last year. He can corroborate.
Perfectly juicy luscious true-plum flavor. Just like the best Japanese plums.
I’ve decided to give Shiro another try. I am grafting it back into my orchad this spring.
The farmers around here have the best success with Shiro and Methley, which almost exclusively comprise their annual roadside offerings.
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Anyone around the Philly region…
I just called Styer orchard and they said their apricots have set and they expect them to be ready in mid June.
If anyone is interested, Styer Orchard is run by my township after buying it to avoid another housing development. I think the story goes the old farmer wouldn’t sell despite his family wanting him to. He called himself a “tree man” and made the deal only if the orchard and farm remained an open space and a place to educate children.
They have the biggest apple trees I’ve ever seen, must be very old.
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Sounds like something similar to what Emma Prusch did with her farm in San Jose,CA.Brady
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Ripening Shiro plums can be challenging. Too ripe, it tastes off. Not ripe enough, it tastes bland. It has to hang long enough (don’t let it yellow color fool you to pick them too early) but not too long. I have had them in all stages of ripening. If you get them just right, they are very good. And they set fruit in abundance.
More importantly, the tree and its fruit buds are cold hardy… It has been through freezing winters that every other stone fruit got wiped out. Shiro bloomed prolifically (but set no fruit because it had nothing to cross pollinate with).
I only have Shiro and Satsuma as my J plum trees. Satsuma is such a wimp and its buds are cold tender. I’ve grafted many varieties to both trees. Shiro alone have 17 varieties on it (last count). The tree has taken those grafts in stride and continues to produce its own fruit. All things considered, Shiro is a J plum trooper, in my opinion. .
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By the time they’re ripe, the squirrels already got them
Ha, ha, ha. forgot about our sworn enemies.
Do you know which apricot varieties they have?
I find plums hold their own a long time after harvest. very impressive fruits. They seem to last and last in the fridge.about 5 weeks or so, very nice!
I would say shiro has been the most problem free plum of all my varieties. Here are a few pic of it I took today
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Very nice looking trees and beautiful set up you have going there.
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I don’t know what variety they have and the farmers might not even know. The apricot trees are probably 30 feet tall and I have only tried them once, several years ago before I even know there were different varieties of apricots.
I’m starting to see some fruit forming in my yard
Dark Red Mid season cherry of some sort
Puget Gold Apricot
Aji Lemon Drop x Burning Bush F1
Indoor Burning Bush Habanero
I thought last year that the Primo canes were impressive on my Triple Crown Blackberry, this year they’re nearly twice the cross sectional area and as big as my index finger. In the background to the right you can see the canes from last year. Are these things going to be 20 feet long?
Buds forming
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I just did something really dumb and I think it’s worthy of telling this funny story.
I’d been working outside all evening and finally retired into the house to grab a shower and a snack. The wife and kids are on vacation and the house is earily quiet and dark. I fixed a sandwich, grabbed two clementines and for desert a little Hostess chocolate donut. It’s dark so I turned on the TV and it provided the only ambient light in my living room. I ate my sandwich along with the two clementines. I grabbed the small donut and after a couple of bites it was gone. I sat my plate on the end table and as I looked down I noticed I had dropped a small piece of the donut on my chest. Not one to waste a donut I reached down and popped it in my mouth and bit down. Whooooo!!! It was not a piece of donut, it was a stink bug!!! You know that nasty smell on your hands when you touch one? Magnify that times 100. I’m not a squeamish person but this evoked my gag reflex. I spit it on the plate and ran to the sink to rinse my mouth. This did not help. It almost magnified it. I brushed my teeth and gargled with listerine and here I am 30 minutes later with a very faint taste of stink bug still in my mouth.
A few morals to this story. One is don’t be greedy and feel like you need to savor that last crumb. Secondly, always eat in good lighting and make sure you know what your eating.
Now I know first hand why even birds won’t eat those things. Haha
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hahahaha that was a good story! I always eat in good light, something feels wrong if I don’t.
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this is funny story
I always keep a drink by my bed at night and drink it with no light and I drank one.
Yup, it’s pretty bad.
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Stink bug taste isn’t so good when they’ve been feeding on your blackberries. But I’m sure nothing like the real deal.